


Sister Christian

by Miso



Series: A War He Can't Forget [23]
Category: SCTV (Canada TV)
Genre: Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Nostalgia, Nuns, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Religion, i mean ig? idk floyds doing a lot of talking abt growing up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-07 16:45:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14085225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miso/pseuds/Miso
Summary: Floyd reunites with his favorite nun from school. There's a lot of feelings involved.





	Sister Christian

**Author's Note:**

> i feel like i should inform people that this was titled "get thee out of a nunnery" while in progress. is this a teaser for a road trip fic series w earl and floyd? quite possibly! if i have the energy ever lol! as usual some catholic things were fudged/faked entirely pls dont smite me

Floyd was of the firm belief that his place of employment was run by circus clowns, but nothing convinced him of that more than when they decided "we should do a show starring a nun" and then decided "what if we got an actual nun." Nuns weren't actresses. Floyd grew up surrounded by them. Sometimes he swore he could still feel rulers rapping across his knuckles for daydreaming or dozing off in class. If they were actresses, they were damn fine ones, because all of the sisters at St. Peter's Catholic Boys' Academy were stone-faced and often downright cruel in their totally-not-indoctrination of the boys that went there. Especially Floyd. Maybe the closet that he'd been in at the time hadn't been made of lead, like he thought. More like Saran wrap.

The only exception was Sister Mary Eunice. Floyd had a feeling that wasn't her real name, but she was the only one he liked. She was younger, sweeter, softer. Sure, Sister Eunice (as she allowed the students to call her) was about as devoted as her older compatriots, but she wasn't as... Floyd wasn't sure what the word was. Never had been, but when other boys started spreading rumors that he was giving blowjobs for money under the bleachers or behind the (woefully underfunded) science building, Sister Eunice was the one to step in and inform them that lying was a sin. She was the one to march the kids that tripped him in the hallway then proceeded to kick him to the principal's office, to gently rouse him instead of smacking his knuckles with a ruler, and to enthusiastically read every little by-line he had in the school newspaper.

He never expected her to re-enter his life after he graduated high school.

Sitting at his desk and half-reading notes he had scribbled down about stories for the day, Floyd only slightly looked up when there was a gentle knock on his door. "S'open," he called, taking a long drink of his coffee. It was far too early for anyone not named Earl to be in his presence.

He almost choked on his drink when he was greeted by a black-clothed nun. "... Floyd Robertson," she said, a smile of maternal pride crossing her face. "My, how you've grown."

"... Sister Eunice?" he whispered, once he got his coffee down. "I... wh-what on Earth-"

"I've always been interested in doing something to raise awareness for my ministry. Your boss has a very... fascinating idea." She stepped closer to Floyd's desk and gently lay her hands atop his. "Though I admit I never expected to see you here. Journalism? I always thought you would go on to play basketball."

"I still do," Floyd managed. "Just... in my spare time. I..." He briefly struggled to find a word that wouldn't offend a nun. "This is just... sudden."

"I heard people mentioning your name and I had to find out if it was really you."

There was a moment of silence between them, before Sister Eunice smiled a little. "I'm very proud of the man you've grown up to be, Floyd."

"... What." Floyd was pretty sure he couldn't have been any flatter in his response. "You... you wouldn't be if you knew me, Sister."

"I bet you I would."

Floyd paused, then sighed quietly. "I'll tell you everything later. Let me buy you coffee tomorrow morning. It's the least I can do after how good you were to me in school."

***

Sister Eunice watched Floyd stare into his cup of black coffee for a solid minute. "This isn't confessional, Floyd," she said gently, patting her former student's hand. "Whatever you need to say, I won't sit in judgment. I promise."

"I haven't gone to church since I started college. I mean... outside of when I'm visiting family and they make me go." Floyd was quiet for a second, anticipating the anger he expected. It never came. Sister Eunice just nodded, nonverbally telling him to continue. "... I... I joined the Army. I regret every second of it. I saw... I saw horrible things, and..."

"It's not unusual for war veterans to question their faith or abandon it entirely."

"... I'm seeing a guy. A... a man. We live together. I proposed to him. We... he took care of me when... things got really bad." Floyd bit his lip to hold back the tears that wanted to come. "... I don't want to go to hell, Sister, but... I can't not love him."

"Floyd." Sister Eunice tipped Floyd's chin up gently and smiled warmly. "Dry your eyes, dear boy. I'm not angry and neither is God."

Floyd sniffled and opened his mouth to speak, but found his voice caught in his throat.

"God sent his son to die on the cross for our sins. I imagine you haven't read the Bible recently, but... you may recall that Jesus said _absolutely nothing_ about how you love being a sin." Sister Eunice handed Floyd a napkin to dry his tears. "Do you love your fiance?"

"More than anything. H-he means the world to me."

"Are you good to him?"

"I try to be."

"Is he good to you?"

"Amazing."

"Are either of you hurting people?"

"Not on purpose."

"Then I think you'll be fine." Sister Eunice smiled warmly. "God loves all of his children. That includes you."

"... Thanks, Sister." Floyd sniffled a little and dabbed his eyes dry with the tissue.

"I wish I could meet him. The way you're talking about him, you would think he put the stars in the sky."

Floyd smiled, shakily, and pulled his wallet from his pocket. "I have a picture of us in here somewhere," he said, digging around for a minute before coming up with the photograph. "Here. His name is Earl."

Sister Eunice smiled at the sight of the picture. Earl was planting a kiss on Floyd's cheek, and Floyd was wearing the most genuine smile she'd ever seen on another person's face. "You love him dearly. I can tell."

"Yeah. And he loves me." Floyd gave the picture a wistful smile as Sister Eunice handed it back to him. "Not like anyone else would, anyway, but..."

"What do you mean by that?"

Floyd paused and glanced up at Sister Eunice. Her brow was furrowed and her hands were folded almost demurely on the table before her. "No one else would love you?"

"Psh. No. Not when they got to know me." Floyd tucked the picture away in his wallet with an almost painfully matter-of-fact shrug. "I mean, what's there to love?"

"A very smart man with multiple talents?"

Floyd pretended to think for a moment before correcting her. "A PTSD-ridden war vet-slash-child abuse victim who can't hear any kind of loud boom without having a 30 minute panic attack, still has nightmares about things that happened 20 years ago, overcompensates and has to be good at everything because he had to fight for his father's validation like a circus animal, and can't sleep alone because his fiance is the only person who can keep him grounded when he has those nightmares."

"None of that makes you a bad person." Sister Eunice covered Floyd's hand with her own again. "When you were in school, you were my favorite student for a reason. You were a hard worker. You were smart. You applied yourself. I don't know very many people who could manage being on a basketball team and a newspaper at the same time as adults, let alone as fifteen year olds."

"That isn't-"

"I'm not finished, dear one." Sister Eunice put a quieting finger to Floyd's lips before carrying on. "You were kind. You were gentle. I'll never forget when you found an injured baby chipmunk and brought it to me asking if anything could be done for it. Nor how much you cried when we couldn't save it." She lowered her finger and gently took Floyd's hand in both of hers this time. "You care so much about others' happiness. You've always worked yourself to the bone to make sure no one was unhappy. I think it's time for you to do that for yourself."

"... Sister..."

"I'm proud of you, Floyd. So is God. And we both love you. It sounds like you have a number of friends who love you. Not to mention a fiance that thinks you're the best thing since sliced bread."

"... That means a lot to me, Sister Eunice." Floyd smiled a little and wiped his eyes again. "Thank you."

\---

"Hey, baby," Earl chirped as Floyd shut the front door behind him, padding over to greet him with a kiss on the cheek. "How was catching up with your favorite nun?"

"It was... a thing. She said a lot of stuff that has me thinking." Floyd wrapped his arms around Earl's shoulders and pulled him close. "Let's go on another road trip. Just you and me. The last one we did, I was the happiest I'd ever been."

"Well, it's a little sudden, but..."

"No. No buts. I need this. We need this." Floyd gently cupped Earl's face in his hands. "Please, doll."

"I mean... sure. Why not? Caballero won't mind not having us around for a while." Earl smiled a little and laughed quietly. "Besides, him and Bill can use the news set for-"

"Okay, now you're starting to talk me out of it."

"Sorry! Sorry." A pause. "But you know that's what they're gonna do."

"I just hope no health inspector ever blacklights that desk."

Earl collapsed into laughter, his head buried in Floyd's chest. Floyd couldn't help but join him in fits of giggles.

This was gonna be great.


End file.
